Relations between Turkey and the European Union have begun normalizing, and Ankara is determined to step up the visa liberalization dialogue with the bloc, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said amid recently exacerbated Ankara-Washington tensions.

“Our relations with the European Union have started normalizing on a firmer basis. We intend to continue negotiations on visa liberalization with the European Union. In the coming days, a delegation from the Turkish Foreign Ministry will meet with European Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans. We intend to intensify contacts with the European Union on visa liberalization,” Cavusoglu said Wednesday, as quoted by the Anadolu news agency.

The minister went on saying that Ankara was open to an impartial dialogue with Washington to settle existing disagreements, provided that the United States did not use “the language of threats.”

The statement comes against the backdrop of what Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan described as an economic war, sparked by Washington’s doubling of tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from the country.

Meanwhile, EU-Turkish relations seem to be getting better after Ankara released two Greek border guards, who strayed into its territory by mistake, as well as Taner Kilic, the chairman of Amnesty International in Turkey, from custody. Their detention was one of the thorny issues that hurt relations between the country and the bloc.

Source: Sputnik